Soaring Falcons beat Cowboys

— Hearst wire services

Published 10:30 pm, Sunday, September 27, 2015

Photo: Michael Ainsworth

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Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) breaks a tackle attempt by Dallas Cowboys' Brandon Carr (39) as J.J. Wilcox, left, and Jack Crawford (58) assist on the play in the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth) ORG XMIT: CBS169 less

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) breaks a tackle attempt by Dallas Cowboys' Brandon Carr (39) as J.J. Wilcox, left, and Jack Crawford (58) assist on the play in the second half of an NFL football ... more

Photo: Michael Ainsworth

Soaring Falcons beat Cowboys

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Arlington, Texas

Julio Jones glided over the goal line on a diving touchdown. That quieted a Dallas crowd riled up by early hopes that the Cowboys might find a way to survive without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant.

Fill-in Atlanta running back Devonta Freeman did most of the rest of the silencing.

Matt Ryan connected with Jones for two touchdowns, Freeman ran for 141 yards and three scores starting for injured rookie Tevin Coleman, and the Falcons beat the Cowboys 39-28 on Sunday.

"We just want to move the ball — I don't care how we do it," said Freeman, who also had 52 yards receiving.

Freeman's third score early in the fourth quarter capped a rally from a trio of 14-point deficits for the Falcons (3-0), who didn't win their third game until Week 10 last year.

Jones had his third straight 100-yard game to start the season, finishing with 164 and a clinching 2-yard score late in the fourth quarter.

"We clearly got punched in the mouth, and we were looking to respond," said Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, who joined Jim Mora (2004) as the only Atlanta coaches to start their careers with three straight wins. "Dallas certainly had us reeling all the way through, and we had to battle like crazy to get back in it."

The Cowboys (2-1) had a six-game winning streak in the regular season snapped in backup quarterback Brandon Weeden's ninth straight loss as a starter going back to his two-year stint in Cleveland.

Steelers 12, Rams 6: Ben Roethlisberger was carted off the field with a knee injury in the second half and Pittsburgh's defense came through. Le'Veon Bell scored from a yard out in the first half in his first game back after a suspension, but the Steelers' focus will be on the status of their star quarterback. Roethlisberger's leg got caught underneath him on a diving, sliding sack by Mark Barron. There was no immediate word on the extent of Roethlisberger's injury. Will Allen's interception with 1:56 left set up a field goal by Josh Scobee to put Pittsburgh (2-1) ahead by six.

Seahawks 26, Bears 0: Tyler Lockett returned the second-half kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, and Russell Wilson connected with Jimmy Graham on a 30-yard TD. Seattle led just 6-0 at halftime after an offensive performance that led to a cascade of boos. Lockett started a huge second half as he went untouched on a perfectly executed return. Later in the quarter, Wilson found Graham across the middle for his second touchdown catch this season. Steven Hauschka added four field goals and the Seahawks started the process of erasing an 0-2 start. Jimmy Clausen started at quarterback for Chicago in place of Jay Cutler and was 9 of 17 for 63 yards.

Cardinals 47, 49ers 7: Carson Palmer threw for 311 yards and Arizona returned two of Colin Kaepernick's first four passes for touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and Chris Johnson rushed for 110 yards and two scores for the Cardinals (3-0). Kaepernick threw a career-worst four interceptions.

Texans 19, Buccaneers 9: Ryan Mallett threw for 228 yards and a touchdown, and Alfred Blue had 139 yards rushing for Houston's first win. Mallett gave Houston (1-2) the lead on a 5-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins on the opening drive. The Buccaneers (1-2) went up 9-7 on a TD catch by Charles Sims in the second quarter. Bucs kicker Kyle Brindza, who made a 58-yard field goal early in the second quarter, missed an extra point and three field goals in the second half.

Raiders 27, Browns 20: Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes, Latavius Murray rushed for 139 yards and Oakland snapped an 11-game road losing streak. Carr connected with Andre Holmes and Seth Roberts in the first half. The Browns (1-2) were driving for a tying TD in the final minute, but Charles Woodson intercepted Josh McCown with 38 seconds left.

Bengals 28, Ravens 24: Andy Dalton threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green with 2:10 left, and Cincinnati remained unbeaten. Baltimore dropped to 0-3 for the first time in franchise history. The Bengals blew a 14-0 lead and twice trailed in the fourth quarter before Dalton brought them back by repeatedly picking apart the porous Baltimore pass defense. Dalton's favorite target was Green, who finished with 10 catches for a career-high 227 yards and two scores. Baltimore lost despite getting 362 yards passing from Joe Flacco.

Panthers 27, Saints 22: Cam Newton threw for 315 yards and a pair of touchdowns to tight end Greg Olsen and also ran for a score. Luke McCown, starting in place of the injured Drew Brees, completed 31 of 38 passes for 310 yards. It was the first game Brees has missed because of injury since joining the Saints in 2006. Newton ran for a 13-yard TD on a bootleg as the Panthers started 3-0 for the first time since reaching the Super Bowl in the 2003 season. Panthers cornerback Josh Norman sealed the game with a leaping interception in the end zone with 1:09 remaining.

Vikings 31, Chargers 14: Adrian Peterson plowed through San Diego's defense for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 20 rushes in three quarters. Chad Greenway scored on a 91-yard interception return for the Vikings (2-1). The Chargers are 1-2. San Diego pulled Philip Rivers for Kellen Clemens midway through the fourth quarter when the deficit reached 24 points.